How the Baby Brain Represents Lips

I-LABS co-director Andrew Meltzoff, and his colleagues Joni Saby and Peter Marshall, recorded brain activity while touching baby lips, hands, and feet. They documented significant activity over the somatosensory cortex in 60-day-olds. The most prominent activity occurred when infant’s lips were touched. The researchers hypothesize that infant body maps are foundational for imitative learning and self-other connections in early infancy.